8 super start-ups from the Enterprise Ireland Start-up Showcase 2018

Last year, Enterprise Ireland supported 181 start-ups. Here are just eight of them.

Enterprise Ireland is on a roll in terms of the numbers of companies it is supporting, 35pc of which are led by women founders.

The State agency revealed that last year, it invested €31m in Irish start-ups, 55pc of which were based outside of Dublin.

At its annual Start-up Showcase in Croke Park today (14 February) – which was attended by close to 700 people, including investors and start-ups – Enterprise Ireland announced a new Competitive Start Fund for regionally based start-ups.

In 2017, 90 new high potential start-ups were supported.

Overall, 67 investments were made in women-led start-ups, or 35pc of all start-up investments in 2017. 15 investments were made in spin-out companies from the third-level sector.

More than 166 entrepreneurs participated in the nationwide New Frontiers programme.

At least 18 investments were made in overseas entrepreneurs who moved to Ireland to establish their businesses.

Meet the start-ups

Here are the eight start-ups we talked to that we believe are worth watching.

Coroflo

Coroflo is developing what it claims is the world’s first accurate breastfeeding monitor so mothers will know exactly how much milk the baby is getting.

The company’s patented technology means that, in a clinical or domestic environment, milk supply can be measured in real time.

FoodCloud

FoodCloud is an innovative social enterprise established in 2013 by Iseult Ward and Aoibheann O’Brien.

It connects businesses with surplus food to local charities and community groups through an innovative technology platform.

GirlCrew

GirlCrew is a platform for women to make new friends. It was devised in Dublin and has grown to a global community of 100,000 women.

As well as finding events to attend and friends to accompany them, members can participate in online chats. The platform is live in Ireland, the UK and Australia, and will be launching into the US at the influential SXSW conference in March.

Hexafly

Hexafly wants to revolutionise how we feed the planet by tackling dwindling food supplies, waste and raw material shortages.

The company breeds insects on an industrial scale utilising proprietary technology to achieve maximum extraction of high-value protein and oil products.

iKydz

iKydz has developed a small device that plugs into a Wi-Fi router to give parents the ability to control and manage children’s access to the internet at home and on 3G and 4G.

The device is a safe children’s Wi-Fi service that is reliable and, according to the company, impossible to hack.

Opening.io

Opening.io finds the highest-potential candidates for roles through machine learning and AI.

It does this by activating 100pc of the CVs in a company’s database, job platforms and recruitment CRM systems, ensuring the hiring process happens in a smarter, faster and more cost-effective way.

Tixserve

Tixserve is a secure fulfilment platform for existing ticket sellers in the $35bn global live events market.